Procedure and House Affairs Committee on Nov. 26th, 2020

[Shelley Fletcher]

Sure. I'll be quick as I know that the time is running out.

We've been doing a project with CAMH, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and People First of Canada are running a class right now. It's a six-week session for people with intellectual disabilities around their mental health, on how to recognize it, what to do about it, what it feels like, the words to use if they need to go into a hospital. We're doing a ton a great work in that area right now.

The other thing is, as Kory said, this pandemic for our folks has just been so life altering for them. People who live in care are not able to see their families. People who barely make—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Thank you.

[Shelley Fletcher]

Are we out of time?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Yes, we are. Thank you.

Monsieur Therrien, you have two and a half minutes.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Ms. Renaud, you talked about incarcerated voters who were having difficulty getting information from political parties on election platforms. We have heard it a number of times, and I find it a little odd.

My colleagues will say the same thing, but in the Bloc Québécois, when someone asks us for information on our platform, we provide it quickly, and in different forms to make our message accessible. If you ask my colleagues, I am sure they will say the same thing about their respective parties.

Have you approached the political parties to increase the dissemination of information through media that allow them to really grasp the information quickly so that they can subsequently make a more informed choice?

[Emilly Renaud]

I don't have a lot of expertise in terms of incarcerated voters, but from what I've researched, they're having trouble accessing specifically information about their ridings and the MPs in their ridings. They usually are able to watch national news, like CBC's The National. These are available in common areas.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Okay.

[Emilly Renaud]

They might have an idea of these greater party platforms, but they're having trouble accessing local news media and local MP agendas. I think it's dangerous to assume that everyone understands that you're not just voting for the Liberal Party and you're not just voting for Justin Trudeau. You're voting for your local MP.

It's that whole electoral process, where you're increasing awareness of this for people in prison and incarcerated people and low-income people. You're increasing the information and understanding of how that election process works. You're voting for an MP, and maybe your MP who isn't running for a party that you would prefer is a better candidate for what you need in your area. That's what I was speaking to. It's being able to understand election processes and getting that very localized information.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

It's very clear now. We have to find a way to inform people.

I will ask Mr. Earle and Ms. Fletcher about temporary, pop-up voting locations.

Can you tell me what you would like to see in that respect?

[Kory Earle]

As we indicated, we'd like pop-up stations in long-term care homes, group homes and institutions, just as they have at universities.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Thank you. That's excellent.

I gave you some leeway, Mr. Therrien, because I know translation takes a little extra time.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Mr. Blaikie.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Ms. Renaud, I was asking a question earlier about what Elections Canada might do to better mobilize the shelter network to support Canada's homeless in the event of a pandemic election. I'm wondering if we might be able to pick up where we left off.

[Emilly Renaud]

As I think I spoke briefly to earlier, shelters have had to reduce capacity. You actually are seeing fewer shelter users and fewer people who are homeless who are able to access resources and have daily interactions with social workers in shelters. I think using shelter workers and using these networks to also reach out to homelessness advocates, who are very grassroots, who work in encampments, who help fundraise to provide basic necessities for encampment residents...and using them to give them information that is accessible, offered in different languages, offered in indigenous languages, letting them disperse to those people who are living on the streets.

A lot of homeless people are actually feeling safer on the streets than in shelters from the spread of COVID. I think it will be a bigger challenge during a pandemic to reach homeless people because of this reduced capacity in shelters. I think it will take a lot of communicating and organizing and taking advantage of these amazing advocates who might not be official shelter workers but are there on the ground and are very willing to help empower homeless people in Canada as mich as possible.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Do you think where there are large encampments it might make sense to try to have a polling station?

[Emilly Renaud]

Yes. In winter in many of our colder provinces these encampments tend to dwindle down. People try to couch surf in the winter. They use emergency winter shelters. I think you'll see fewer great encampments like we did over the summer. That being said, especially in Vancouver and in climates that are a bit warmer, by having a polling station right next to encampments, for people who are struggling, who panhandle and struggle to feed themselves, it would be about making it as easy for them as possible. If it took maybe 10 minutes out of their day for them to go and vote, I think that would be crucial in encouraging our homeless populations to vote.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Thank you. That's all the time we have for formal questions.

Once again, I'd like to thank both of the organizations and all of the witnesses. You've done a wonderful job and I hope that we will be able to appropriately reflect your comments and feedback in our recommendations in the report.

[Kory Earle]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

You're free to log off at this point. I want to cover a couple of things with the regular committee members before we end today's meeting.

Members, I want to inform you about a couple of things.

In our last meeting, there was a desire to go in camera to take a look at some issues with MP security risks and have some of the witnesses back in order to do so. The clerk has checked into availability for times. I heard through the whips that there might be Monday evening slots available to committees. They're on a first-come, first-served basis. We looked into that and those slots are all taken until January 25, so January 25 would be the next Monday evening time slot we would have available. We have put our name in to hold that spot for now, if we end up having to take that long to meet on that issue.

There is a second option I want to present to the committee. The second option would be to meet after the House rises. There is some capacity for us to meet the week after. That would be the week of December 14. December 15 would be the actual date, in our regular time slot, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. It would be the Tuesday after the House rises.

It's up to you guys. Those are the two options. We have the evening of Monday, January 25, which would be after the House resumes again, or we have during the winter break or constituency time on December 15.

Do you have a preference?

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Perhaps Alain Therrien can assist with this as he's working with the Quebec House leadership. There has been no agreement after December 11 to allow committees or the House to sit in hybrid format. The ability to continue to meet is something that I know is extremely important to many of the opposition members. I think this is exactly the case, as we're seeing right now, that there's lots of work to be done. There has not been an actual formalization or anything coming from the government on the plans after December 11, so perhaps you could work on that for us as well, Ruby.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

I'd be a miracle worker, then.

Thank you for informing me about that, Ms. Vecchio. We were just looking at it in terms of the IT resources. I hadn't realized—and you are very correct—that I'll probably look into that a little bit further as to whether there is some agreement that can come about on that.

We'll just hold the time slot for January 25 for now, and then I'll update you in one of our next meetings as to what's happening with the security risk meeting.

I want to remind you that at Tuesday's meeting—the next meeting we have for this committee—we're going to be considering the interim draft report. Andre, if you want to give any feedback to the committee members, now is a good time. I think he's going to get us the draft report before the weekend starts—sometime tomorrow, hopefully, so you have the weekend to look over it.

I'm getting a thumbs up, so that's correct. You should be receiving that tomorrow, so you have the weekend and Monday to mull it over.

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Madam Chair, excuse me for interrupting. I assume that interim draft report would be sent to our P9 accounts. Is that correct?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Do you receive other emails and notices through your P9 account?